opened by the cousins, and contained a number of long and
confidential letters from a Marguerite de Vericourt, which extended
over a number of years, and stopped at the year when Jane and Elsie
came to live with their uncle. Jane's knowledge of French was better
than her cousin's, and the sight of the words "LE PAUVRE FRANCOIS"
arrested her attention in the first she opened. "We have come to
something at last," said she, and she translated the passage, "'I am
glad to hear that the poor Francis is doing so well at school--surely
you must learn to love him a little now. My Arnauld grows very
intelligent; and Clemence, with no teaching but my own, makes rapid
progress.' That is all; your name is not mentioned again in this
letter. We must go on to the next."

Letter after letter was glanced over, and then translated, because
though there was little mention of the poor Francis, but such a short
allusion to something Mr. Hogarth had written about him as was found in
the first letter, there was much that was very interesting in them all.
They were written with that curious mixture of friendship and love, so
natural and easy to Frenchwomen, and so difficult to Englishwomen.
Madame de Vericourt appeared to be a widow with two children, a boy and
girl. Her letters showed her to be a capable and cultivated woman,
passionately attached to her children, living much in society for part
of the year in Paris, but spending the summer in a country chateau,
where she became a child again with the little ones. She wrote about
her affairs, and her children's, as if she were in the habit of
transacting business, and thoroughly understood it, and as if she knew
Mr. Hogarth's whole history and circumstances, and took a very
affectionate interest in them. She reminded him frequently of
conversations they had had together, of long walks and excursions they
had taken in company; her children sent messages to her good friend,
and she took notice of expressions in his letters which had pleased or
disappointed her.

For herself, she had been unhappily married when extremely young; but
before the correspondence had begun she had been for some years a
widow, and she was fully aware of the position of Mr. Hogarth. The most
interesting letter of all was the last, which appeared to have been
written in answer to his, telling of his resolution to adopt his
sister's children; and she seemed very much delighted at the idea.

"Since you say that you cann